Regulator CCI examining whether IndiGo violated competition norms: Official
IndiGo, which has a domestic market share of over 65 percent, canceled hundreds of flights starting December 2, causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers, and the situation is now stabilizing.
While aviation safety regulator DGCA is investigating flight disruptions as well as stepping up a review of IndiGo’s operations, there are concerns in some quarters about whether the airline’s dominant position is also a contributing factor.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is internally examining whether IndiGo violated competition norms or not, the senior official told PTI.
According to the official, various issues such as the general dominant position, dominance on specific routes and whether dominance has been abused will be examined.
There is no formal complaint against IndiGo so far and the CCI is examining whether competition rules have been violated suo motu, the official added.
Chapter 4 of the Competition Act deals with abuse of dominant position in a way that could be exploitative or exclusionary. While exploitative refers to actions such as excessive pricing, denial of market access would fall under the exclusionary segment.
Under the norms, CCI first carries out a detailed review of available information to reach a conclusion as to whether there is prima facie evidence of violation of competition norms.
Only when prima facie evidence of violations is found, the regulator orders the matter to be investigated.
It is not possible for an entity in a dominant position to be anti-competitive, but if the dominant position is abused, there is a violation of competition norms.
Lack of proper planning in implementing the new flight duty norms from November 1 has been cited as the key factor for operational disruptions at IndiGo, among other factors.
In addition to preventing anti-competitive practices in the marketplace, CCI also works to promote fair business practices.
Among other powers, the regulator can impose penalties and issue cease and desist orders to prevent unfair cross-industry trading practices.
